Blizzaks on Z4

[cdeslandes]

I installed four Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 Runflat on my Z4 35i and will comment on these in this thread.

All four tires are 225/45 (94 V XL) mounted on my OEM 17" wheels - yes the 225's do fit and are approved on a 8.5" rim. I used the same size all around per the car's manual. 255s were not available in 17" anyway.

I'm not a fan of run-flats but went this way for my winter tires as I don't feel like getting stuck with a flat in cold weather.

Impressions:

• Looks: not bad for winter tires. The LM-25's have a lip to protect the rim, and the sidewall looks as good as a summer tire's.
• Noise: not as noisy as I feared, in fact they are a little less noisy than the OEM summer tires. Just a low-frequency drone, not intrusive.
• Ride: more compliant and comfortable than the summer tires, even though these are RFT. Not too bouncy either. Could drive long distance very comfortably on those tires.
• Road performance, dry: as one would expect, the limits are lower than summer tires. Still pretty good though - a tight corner I can take at 42 mph (68 kph) in summer gear can be negotiated at 37 mph (60 kph) with the Blizzaks. The most noticeable change is in dry traction, it's easy to light up the rear and involve traction control. Of course this is in part due to the narrower rear tires. Handling is still good and predictable, with initial understeer immediately followed by a very controllable slide when cornering at the limit. The car is easy to steer with the throttle, with oversteer just a throttle push away. That's one of the reasons I love the LM-25's, they retain the car's sporty feel and the lower limits allow one to have some real fun at winter-safe speeds!
• Highway performance, dry: at my customary 79 mph (127 kph) the tire noise is not intrusive. In fact it's about 1/3 wind, 1/3 engine and 1/3 tire whine. Very comfortable, very secure ride. At high speed (120 mph / 193 kph) the car tracks straight as an "I", no vibration or shimmy of any kind. These are truly winter tires fit for the Autobahn! In tight high-speed curves (80 mph/130 kph) like a highway ramp, the steering is very sharp with eager turn-in and rear tires feeling like they're about to start drifting due to their narrow profile, but all very controlable, progressive and sporty-feeling; good feedback from the tires that they're getting close to their limit. Mid-corner seams in the roadway do not upset the car in any way.
• Light wet snow/slush/ice: on 2-4 inches of melting slush with moderate ice under it, great traction, absolutely no problem driving around suburbia at moderate speeds.

Overall the Blizzaks seem well suited to the Z4. In some ways the car feels better than with the OEM 17" BridgeStone run-flat tires, which is both to the credit of the Blizzaks and discredit of the OEM gear.

I'll post rain and snow driving impressions once I get to drive in those conditions,

Pictures of the car with the winter tires:

[T89]

Had them on last year. Great tires. They'll be on next week again.


T

[mcbeee]

I had blizzaks on the back of my M3, worked great. I didn't drive it in the winter much but awesome tires for a snow tire. I had em on because I blew up my PS 2's on the interstate and they were all I could find with less than 2 days delivery (stuck in Spokane)

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by cdeslandes

I installed four Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 Runflat on my Z4 35i and will comment on these in this thread.

All four tires are 225/45 (94 V XL) mounted on my OEM 17" wheels - yes the 225's do fit and are approved on a 8.5" rim. I used the same size all around per the car's manual. 255s were not available in 17" anyway.

I'm not a fan of run-flats but went this way for my winter tires as I don't feel like getting stuck with a flat in cold weather.

Impressions:

• Look: not bad for winter tires. The LM-25's have a lip to protect the rim, and the sidewall looks as good as a summer tire's.
• Noise: not as noisy as I feared, in fact they are a little less noisy than the OEM summer tires. Just a low-frequency drone, not intrusive.
• Ride: more compliant and comfortable than the summer tires, even though these are RFT. Not too bouncy either. Could drive long distance very comfortably on those tires.
• Dry road performance: as one would expect, the limits are lower than summer tires. Still pretty good though - a tight corner I can take at 42 mph in summer gear can be negotiated at 37 with the Blizzaks. The most noticeable change is in dry traction, it's easy to light up the rear and involve traction control. Of course this is in part due to the narrower rear tires. Handling is still good and predictable, with initial understeer immediately followed by a very controllable slide when cornering at the limit. The car is easy to steer with the throttle, with oversteer just a throttle push away. That's one of the reasons I love the LM-25's, they retain the car's sporty feel and the lower limits allow one to have some real fun at winter-safe speeds!

Overall the Blizzaks seem well suited to the Z4.

I'll post rain and snow driving impressions once I get to drive in those conditions, and pics the next time I wash the car.

This will be a good feedback, thanks for posting this thread. Come spring I will have to decide what kind of tires go onto my 19" summer OEM Style 296 wheels.

I just like to make a couple of comments,

1) I recommend you check your wheels for cracks here and then. I had 2 of my rear wheels crack after 18,000 KM on a new car. Mind you I have 19" wheels for my summer wheels with the Bridgestone RFT Also my vacation trip included a 3 hour plus drive through the Mohave Desert this past summer (shortly after that I had cracks found due to a flat tire).

2) I read that Bridgestone now has a better RFT Generation 3. The latest and greatest from Bridgestone has cooling fins on the sidewall surface. Do you know what Generation # your winter tires are?

3) I also like to recommend having your winter and summer tires on there own wheels. Changing tires spring and fall will add up in $ and chances of wheel damage is always there (RFT are hard to mount and get off the rims).

PS. There are some photos in my Garage of wheel damage caused by using excessive force during RFT removal.

As I said I look forward on updates on your winter tires.

Cheers,

Rolf-Dieter

[cdeslandes]

Originally Posted by Rolf-Dieter

1) I recommend you check your wheels for cracks here and then. I had 2 of my rear wheels crack after 18,000 KM on a new car. Mind you I have 19" wheels for my summer wheels with the Bridgestone RFT Also my vacation trip included a 3 hour plus drive through the Mohave Desert this past summer (shortly after that I had cracks found due to a flat tire).

I'm not too worried about that with 17" tires.

Originally Posted by Rolf-Dieter

2) I read that Bridgestone now has a better RFT Generation 3. The latest and greatest from Bridgestone has cooling fins on the sidewall surface. Do you know what Generation # your winter tires are?

Not sure. I'll take a look.

Originally Posted by Rolf-Dieter

3) I also like to recommend having your winter and summer tires on there own wheels. Changing tires spring and fall will add up in $ and chances of wheel damage is always there (RFT are hard to mount and get off the rims).

That's the plan. I used to switch but this was with non run-flat.
I'm planning on getting 18" wheels (BMW or BBS) and mount non-RFT comes Spring. I'm not a fan of 19" or bigger wheels; too heavy.

[Torn]

any rain/snow impressions to share or still haven't had to deal with such weather yet?

I'm still debating on whether or not to rock the blizzaks on the e89 here in Jersey. Anybody use them on the z4 in snowy/rainy weather. Need a deciding factor here haha

[s2000jan]

I have them but in non-RFT configuration and have been driving in snow this week and they are ok !

[cdeslandes]

Originally Posted by Torn

any rain/snow impressions to share or still haven't had to deal with such weather yet?

I'm still debating on whether or not to rock the blizzaks on the e89 here in Jersey. Anybody use them on the z4 in snowy/rainy weather. Need a deciding factor here haha

No real rain or snow yet this year, but I had the same tires (on 18" wheels and non run-flat) on my IS350 (RWD, similar performance as Z4) and survived 3 Connecticut winters with them:



I've driven them in up to 6" of snow with 4X4 pickups and SUVs skidding off the road around me, and my car tracked straight as an "I" at 40 mph.

I've had more aggressive snow tires on cars before (my two SAAB 900 Turbos) and while they could negotiate up to say, 9" of snow, they were terribly noisy and had poor handling in the dry, wet and ice. The Blizzak are a much better compromise unless you live in Vermont or Colorado. They'd be perfect for Jersey.

[Memphis1]

the true judge will be next march to see which one of us still has an intact Z4

[cdeslandes]

Originally Posted by Memphis1

the true judge will be next march to see which one of us still has an intact Z4

Trial by Tire!

[Torn]

Originally Posted by Memphis1

the true judge will be next march to see which one of us still has an intact Z4

LMFAO.

Hopefully all our Z4's make it out alive and well!

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Hahahahah meine is safe in the garage Memphis we had 70 cm of snow (in the past 3 days) that be 27.5 inches the picture below is taken in my backyard somewhere under that pile of white stuff is my Barbecue

[BMWZ4]

Thanks God I live in Toronto, just beyond the "lake effect" barrier. Not a spot here in the city!!

Dave

[Frank Costanza]

Originally Posted by Dave Marien

Thanks God I live in Toronto, just beyond the "lake effect" barrier. Not a spot here in the city!!

Dave

Seriously! Thank God. Toronto is lucky because the lake effect pounds places to the east, west, north and south, but somehow not here much.

Our car is basically put away in a heat controlled garage. In the last 2 weeks I think we've used it twice. lol. I just start it up once a week or so, drive it around the block (weather permitting) and then put it away.

[cdeslandes]

One factor that may affect my winter driving: I just found out that the one valet parking place at Bradley airport that offers heated, inside parking is going out of business. I refuse to park this car out in the open on some parking lot...

[Pecty]

Just got my Blizzak WS-70s on my car, using Moda 17x8 wheels, so far they ride pretty nice, its been down to about -4C/25F or so the past few days. Haven't had a chance to use them in the snow yet, although this coming Monday we are supposed to get a rain and snow mix here in northern New Jersey, exactly the reason I went for the WS-70, we get everything from 6-8 inches of snow, to "wintery mix" consisting of rain, sleet, snow, freezing rain, hail, cats, dogs, kitchen sinks, etc etc

[lux good]

Originally Posted by Rolf-Dieter

This will be a good feedback, thanks for posting this thread. Come spring I will have to decide what kind of tires go onto my 19" summer OEM Style 296 wheels.

I just like to make a couple of comments,

1) I recommend you check your wheels for cracks here and then. I had 2 of my rear wheels crack after 18,000 KM on a new car. Mind you I have 19" wheels for my summer wheels with the Bridgestone RFT Also my vacation trip included a 3 hour plus drive through the Mohave Desert this past summer (shortly after that I had cracks found due to a flat tire).

2) I read that Bridgestone now has a better RFT Generation 3. The latest and greatest from Bridgestone has cooling fins on the sidewall surface. Do you know what Generation # your winter tires are?

3) I also like to recommend having your winter and summer tires on there own wheels. Changing tires spring and fall will add up in $ and chances of wheel damage is always there (RFT are hard to mount and get off the rims).

PS. There are some photos in my Garage of wheel damage caused by using excessive force during RFT removal.

As I said I look forward on updates on your winter tires.

Cheers,

Rolf-Dieter

Yes, yes, yes.....we all know about your cracked wheel Rolf